Those Eyes
by MyKimbas
Summary: Percy Jackson, AU, Enjoy!


Percy had to put nirvana on pause. He hated stopping his music. He especially hated airports, and unfortunately for him, thats where he security line was moving at its unbearably slow pace, and there he was, Percy Jackson, in the middle of the god-forsaken. line. Percy was lucky enough to hear a couple sob over their oncoming departure, and the lady in front of him scream into her cell phone. The security guard that told him to remove his headphones, hadn't bothered anyone else, so he just didn't care. He thought to himself how nirvana sounded much better than all the other nonsense he could hear.

After some time, he finally got to the front of line. Off went his headphones, jacket,belt,and shoes. With pockets emptied, pen, phone, wallet, and everything else, he stepped into the metal detector, hoping that the alarm wouldnt go off. "_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!" _. "Shit"- Percy muttered to himself. One especially plump security guard, looked over at percy and called him over. "Sir, I need you to spread your arms and legs please." Percy of course complied. No beeps with the hand-held detector. "Your good to go sir, sorry for the inconvenience." "Yeah, whatever." Percy muttered back to the guard.

After he grabbed his things, Percy took a seat at his gate, waiting to board his flight to Rio. Oh Rio. Just the thought of the crystal clear beaches, and the sun on his back, made Percy antsy with anticipation. Problem was he had to fly there. Percy _hated_ flying. Everything in the plane and the sky didn't agree with him. Just the sound of the word "turbulence" made him queasy. The loudspeaker went off, "Excuse me passengers, we will now begin boarding flight 2396, destination to Rio". Percy rose from his seat, stretched, gathered his things, and got in yet another line to board the plane.

Looking out of the window of the plane, Percy drifted into thought. What was he going to do? What could he do? This trip to Rio was a gift from his parents, they told him that he needed to travel, fly around, get to know the world. Percy was happy at home in New York, but his mom wanted him to go. "I wonder if this is the way the old lady's kicking me out". Percy was 26, and was struggling to get his feet on the ground. He had a steady job, and an apartment in downtown manhattan. He was born wealthy, but he had always felt strangely empty.

"Is this 35B?" Percy turned to look at the stranger. He immediately regretted it. The girl who had spoken to him, left him speechless. Her blonde curls fell down to her shoulder. She wore a worn out yankees cap. She was an attractive girl, but what really bought Percy was her eyes. They reminded him of a brewing storm, powerful yet decisive. "Yeah I'm pretty sure." He was barely able to speak those words. Those eyes. He couldn't stop looking at her eyes. She made eye contact, but Percy proceeded to finally look away. The girl slid into the seat next to him. He almost collapsed from nervousness.

After Percy's terrifying take off, he willed up some courage from deep inside him, and decided to start a conversation. "Wha-what's your name?" Percy managed to ask, cracking a smile at the same time. She cleared her throat. "Annabeth Chase, yours?"."Nice to meet you Annabeth, I'm Percy Jackson". She looked at him quizzically, "Percy? That's a strange name." Percy smiled. "Coming from someone named Annabeth? You don't hear that name everyday." She slipped a giggle. Percy got her to laugh, maybe he could keep her going, maybe get somewhere with her. But Annabeth had an architecture book in her lap, and was nose deep into it. He wasn't anywhere. At Least for now.

Besides the common small talk, there wasn't much conversation between Annabeth and Percy. She was dug in deep in the architecture book, and Percy was trying not to puke. "This is your captain speaking, we will be landing in about 30 min, thank you for your patience, and thank you for choosing Delta Airlines."Percy looked over at Annabeth. She was still absorbed in that architecture book. "What you readin?" Percy asked. She finished her sentence and looked up. "It's this book about ancient Greek buildings and how they built them. The guy who wrote it calls himself Daedalus." Percy's eyes lit up. "The Greek who created the labyrinth? What a weird name to pick." Annabeth responded "You know you're mythology?". Percy gave her a straight face. "Damn straight I do". She smiled. They spent the rest of their flight quizzing each other on ancient Greek heroes and myths, smiling and laughing until the plane touched the tarmac.

They walked off the plane together. "You're from New York right?" She looked offended. "Of course I am seaweed for brains! You couldn't tell? I live in Downtown Manhattan-""No way.""What?" she said?"I live in downtown too, what a coincidence." "She smiled. "In that case here." She pulled out a slip of paper, and wrote her phone number down. "Call me when you get back to the states. Maybe we can hang out." She blushed and handed him the piece of paper."See ya around Percy Jackson.""You got it Annabeth." She found her luggage and walked off into the Brazilian sun.

His entire time in Rio, Percy could only think of one thing. Annabeth Chase. That name, her smell, her look. It made Percy's stomach turn inside out. He couldn't wait to get home to call her. He made sure to keep that piece of paper with her number close to him, and always in sight. He wouldn't, no, couldn't forgive himself if he lost that slip of paper. Is this what it felt like to be in love? What it feels like to care for someone? He couldn't care. He needed to see her again.

Finally it was time to go home. Percy boarded his plane, homebound, but still no sign of Annabeth. Once the plane landed. He suddenly became the most impatient person on the planet. He _needed_ to get home. He _needed _to call her. He grabbed his luggage, and wondered when she came back. It had been 2 weeks in Rio for Percy, and he knew that she had left before him. He grabbed his luggage and whistled at the nearest taxi.

Percy stepped out of the cab, making sure to check his pockets and tip the driver. He grabbed his bag and proceeded into his apartment. In his six-story apartment building, at the very top, apartment 6d. He walked into the lobby, and heard some chatter about some a new tenant up on the six floor. "Great." He thought. "More neighbors to pretend to be nice to." He climbed the stairs up. He heard footsteps above and below him, and he didn't care, he needed to call her. He finally got to the top of the stairs. He dropped his bag and took a breather. He got to his apartment door. He took out his keyring and tried key after key. He was too tired to open his damn door. All of the thinking of Annabeth must have worn him out. He paused and took a breath. "Need some help seaweed brain?"Percy dropped his turned and saw those eyes, and for the first time in his life, he felt whole.


End file.
